"Atheism is not merely the denial of a dogma. It is the reversal of a subconscious assumption in the soul..." - Chesterton
"We do not really face two rival versions of Christianity. We face Christianity on the one hand and, on the other hand, some other religion that selectively uses Christian words, but is not Christianity." - J. Gresham Machen

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What I believe:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
I believe he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
I believe he descended to the grave and on the third day he rose again.
I believe he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
I believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. I believe the Bible is the word of God, without error or contradiction.
I believe God is sovereign over all the universe; omnipotent and omniscient in all things. I believe that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I believe that pretty much covers it.

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

A Couple From Doug Wilson

I enjoy Pastor Doug Wilson's blog. Not that I would agree with him on every point, but he often has a particular way of turning a phrase that touches something in me. I think that both his style of writing and my appreciation of it spring from our mutual admiration of G.K. Chesterton.

This post makes me glad for what I think is my freedom in Christ that allows me to enjoy a little wine with a meal, not for its intoxicating effect, but for the enhancement of the flavour of good food.

"One might have hoped that, with so gracious a creature as wine, even the most ardent religionists and secularists would have made an exception to their universal custom of missing the point of things . . . Consider first the teetotalers . . . Something underhanded has to be done to grape juice to keep it from running its appointed course..."

I have heard certain radio and television preachers declare that to partake of alcohol is basically sinful in itself and Christians should never touch it, but I must disagree. To take the liberty of paraphrasing a point from St Paul, wine itself is not the root of all kinds of evil; the abuse of it is.

A second subject Wilson addresses is the propensity, I would put it, especially among those of a more liberal bent, to consider it a desirable thing to penalize the rich in order to support the poor, and calling it for what it really is; in many cases, a manifestation of covetousness. Here in Canada, politically, I see this especially in the NDP and its adherents. The thing is that they usually want to bypass themselves in this process. In other words, they place themselves in the middle and want to take from those above themselves and pass it down to those below, their only involvement in the process is the taking and passing. Rarely, it seems to me, do they see themselves as the ones who should do the giving.

Where does the Bible tell us not to steal from the rich? In the same place where it tells us not to steal period. That commandment is in the same place where we are told not to steal from Ford Motor Company, WalMart, your mother's purse, or any other place where the money you want might be found. The morality of the thing has nothing whatever to do with the moral condition of the victim, or with his extra resources. Stealing is stealing whether or not the person involved would ever miss it, and envy is envy even if the wealthy are parading about in some unconscionable fashion. What is that to us? It is not our money. We must not want it, seek it, angle for it, manipulate for it, vote for it, or write prophetic jeremiads with one eye on the main chance. The only thing we may do to get some is by offering a lawful service, diligently performed. Surrounding the palace with ballots is no more acceptable that surrounding the palace with torches and pitchforks.

1 comment:

I am (or was - the abortion issue make me cut ties) a long time New Democrat, and I am also a member of an ANiC church. I don't see NDP social policies the way you describe them. I see no reason why is should be wrong for people with higher salaries to contribute more (via their taxes) to society than people with lower incomes, and I say that as somebody who is in the highest income tax bracket there is. (And yes, I tithe too).